'Wedding' takes box-office cake
LOS ANGELES - Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn caught the box-office bouquet as their comedy "Wedding Crashers" pulled a switch with a $20.5 million weekend, becoming the No. 1 movie after two weekends in second place.
Johnny Depp's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," the top movie the previous two weekends, slipped to No. 2 with $16.4 million, according to studio estimates.
The two holdovers fended off new wide releases whose fair to poor debuts had Hollywood revenues sagging again as a box-office dry spell continued.
Leading the newcomers was "Sky High," featuring Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston in an action comedy set at a high school for superheroes that debuted in third place with $14.6 million.
"Stealth," about Navy pilots (Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel and Jamie Foxx) taking on a rogue drone plane, crashed and burned, finishing at No. 4 with $13.5 million. With an estimated $100 million production budget, "Stealth" will prove a costly money-loser for distributor Sony.
The top 12 movies took in $112.1 million, down a steep 21 percent from the same weekend last year.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.
1. "Wedding Crashers," $20.5 million.
2. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," $16.4 million.
3. "Sky High," $14.6 million.
4. "Stealth," $13.5 million.
5. "Must Love Dogs," $13.05 million.
6. "Fantastic Four," $6.8 million.
7. "The Island," $5.6 million.
8. "War of the Worlds," $5.44 million.
9. "Bad News Bears," $5.43 million.
10. "March of the Penguins," $4.2 million.
